Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Who can watch the watchmen?"No one is paying attention to your post reports"Why do posters that claim to have me blocked keep sending me pms and responding to my posts? That makes no sense.

Yawn, another anti-American American comes to Russia for salvation.....Methinks he is searching for that heaven on earth which can not be found by mere men. Back in the days of the Bolshevik revolution and into the 1930's he had plenty of company in that regard, only they saw their God in Leninism. John Reed and his fellow travelers must be laughing somewhere....

[redacted polemics against pilgrimages not being Christian for almost everyone]

Perhaps everyone should read this:

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When the Lord invites the blest to their inheritance in the kingdom of heaven, He does not include a pilgrimage to Jerusalem among their good deeds; when He announces the Beatitudes, He does not name among them that sort of devotion.

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He cannot imagine that our Lord is living, in the body, there at the present day, but has gone away from us foreigners; or that the Holy Spirit is in abundance at Jerusalem, but unable to travel as far as us. Whereas, if it is really possible to infer God's presence from visible symbols, one might more justly consider that He dwelt in the Cappadocian nation than in any of the spots outside it. For how many Altars there are there, on which the name of our Lord is glorified! One could hardly count so many in all the rest of the world. Again, if the Divine grace was more abundant about Jerusalem than elsewhere, sin would not be so much the fashion among those that live there; but as it is, there is no form of uncleanness that is not perpetrated among them; rascality, adultery, theft, idolatry, poisoning, quarrelling, murder, are rife; and the last kind of evil is so excessively prevalent, that nowhere in the world are people so ready to kill each other as there; where kinsmen attack each other like wild beasts, and spill each other's blood, merely for the sake of lifeless plunder. Well, in a place where such things go on, what proof, I ask, have you of the abundance of Divine grace?

I wish him the best! It takes courage to leave everything behind and follow Jesus, as we are commanded. I suspect this fellow really seeks God and chose a place known for its sacrifices and Saints and also for seclusion. What better place to live without distraction than somewhere not American. Perhaps we should give him the benefit of the doubt.

I wish him the best! It takes courage to leave everything behind and follow Jesus, as we are commanded. I suspect this fellow really seeks God and chose a place know for his sacrifices and Saints and also for seclusion. What better place to live without distraction than somewhere not American. Perhaps we should give him the benefit of the doubt.

Because there are absolutely no carnal distractions in Holy Muscovy, none whatsoever.

I wish him the best! It takes courage to leave everything behind and follow Jesus, as we are commanded. I suspect this fellow really seeks God and chose a place know for his sacrifices and Saints and also for seclusion. What better place to live without distraction than somewhere not American. Perhaps we should give him the benefit of the doubt.

Because there are absolutely no carnal distractions in Holy Muscovy, none whatsoever.

Without money and the language barrier, very few. But you are very well aware of what I was saying.

You dont need any money or knowledge of the Russian language to get a carnal distraction in Russia. You just need to walk on a street and see the females. The majority of them look like supermodels, according to Western standards, and wear miniskirts even when it snows. And this is not an exaggeration.

You dont need any money or knowledge of the Russian language to get a carnal distraction in Russia. You just need to walk on a street and see the females. The majority of them look like supermodels, according to Western standards, and wear miniskirts even when it snows. And this is not an exaggeration.

I could careless about Western standards, but only my own standards when it comes to someone looking like a supermodel.

In fact I'm sure we could get discounts because we are Americans. Isn't there some class in France that just adores Americans, and they are rich too?

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“There is your brother, naked, crying, and you stand there confused over the choice of an attractive floor covering.”

You dont need any money or knowledge of the Russian language to get a carnal distraction in Russia. You just need to walk on a street and see the females. The majority of them look like supermodels, according to Western standards, and wear miniskirts even when it snows. And this is not an exaggeration.

You could have even more distractions in the privacy of your home at the computer. Why are we attacking this man? Again, perhaps we should consider his intentions pure and pray for his success rather than speak harshly of him.

You dont need any money or knowledge of the Russian language to get a carnal distraction in Russia. You just need to walk on a street and see the females. The majority of them look like supermodels, according to Western standards, and wear miniskirts even when it snows. And this is not an exaggeration.

You could have even more distractions in the privacy of your home at the computer. Why are we attacking this man? Again, perhaps we should consider his intentions pure and pray for his success rather than speak harshly of him.

I don't think anyone is attacking him, though I personally just find the notion that Russia is "Holier" than America to be little naïve.

You dont need any money or knowledge of the Russian language to get a carnal distraction in Russia. You just need to walk on a street and see the females. The majority of them look like supermodels, according to Western standards, and wear miniskirts even when it snows. And this is not an exaggeration.

You could have even more distractions in the privacy of your home at the computer. Why are we attacking this man? Again, perhaps we should consider his intentions pure and pray for his success rather than speak harshly of him.

I don't think anyone is attacking him, though I personally just find the notion that Russia is "Holier" than America to be little naïve.

I understand that, it isn't, but at least this fellow is searching and I have not seen much encouragement here for him. We should pray he finds what is soul is searching for, whether in Russia or somewhere else.

Now that you mention it, attack is too harsh a word. Criticize would be a better word.

You dont need any money or knowledge of the Russian language to get a carnal distraction in Russia. You just need to walk on a street and see the females. The majority of them look like supermodels, according to Western standards, and wear miniskirts even when it snows. And this is not an exaggeration.

You could have even more distractions in the privacy of your home at the computer. Why are we attacking this man? Again, perhaps we should consider his intentions pure and pray for his success rather than speak harshly of him.

I don't think anyone is attacking him, though I personally just find the notion that Russia is "Holier" than America to be little naïve.

I understand that, it isn't, but at least this fellow is searching and I have not seen much encouragement here for him. We should pray he finds what is soul is searching for, whether in Russia or somewhere else.

Now that you mention it, attack is too harsh a word. Criticize would be a better word.

Yeah, I definitely wish him well on his spiritual journey, if that's what he needs to do to be closer to God, then by all means do it. But, for the most part, Russia is not exactly the last fortress of Orthodoxy that some russophiles like to think it is.

You dont need any money or knowledge of the Russian language to get a carnal distraction in Russia. You just need to walk on a street and see the females. The majority of them look like supermodels, according to Western standards, and wear miniskirts even when it snows. And this is not an exaggeration.

You could have even more distractions in the privacy of your home at the computer. Why are we attacking this man? Again, perhaps we should consider his intentions pure and pray for his success rather than speak harshly of him.

I don't think anyone is attacking him, though I personally just find the notion that Russia is "Holier" than America to be little naïve.

An elderly Russian lady once said "America is much holier than Russia because in America, Russians went to church to find a wife instead of other places!".

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Most Holy Theotokos, Save Us!Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy Upon Me a Sinner!

I wish him the best! It takes courage to leave everything behind and follow Jesus, as we are commanded. I suspect this fellow really seeks God and chose a place know for his sacrifices and Saints and also for seclusion. What better place to live without distraction than somewhere not American. Perhaps we should give him the benefit of the doubt.

Because there are absolutely no carnal distractions in Holy Muscovy, none whatsoever.

Without money and the language barrier, very few. But you are very well aware of what I was saying.

"I will pour out my prayer unto the Lord, and to Him will I proclaim my grief; for with evils my soul is filled, and my life unto hades hath drawn nigh, and like Jonah I will pray: From corruption raise me up, O God." -Ode VI, Irmos of the Supplicatory Canon to the Theotokos

I wish him the best! It takes courage to leave everything behind and follow Jesus, as we are commanded. I suspect this fellow really seeks God and chose a place know for his sacrifices and Saints and also for seclusion. What better place to live without distraction than somewhere not American. Perhaps we should give him the benefit of the doubt.

Because there are absolutely no carnal distractions in Holy Muscovy, none whatsoever.

Thank God. The women there dress like women and the men like men.

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Quote from: GabrieltheCelt

If you spend long enough on this forum, you'll come away with all sorts of weird, untrue ideas of Orthodox Christianity.

Quote from: orthonorm

I would suggest most persons in general avoid any question beginning with why.

You dont need any money or knowledge of the Russian language to get a carnal distraction in Russia. You just need to walk on a street and see the females. The majority of them look like supermodels, according to Western standards, and wear miniskirts even when it snows.

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Who can watch the watchmen?"No one is paying attention to your post reports"Why do posters that claim to have me blocked keep sending me pms and responding to my posts? That makes no sense.

I wish him the best! It takes courage to leave everything behind and follow Jesus, as we are commanded. I suspect this fellow really seeks God and chose a place know for his sacrifices and Saints and also for seclusion. What better place to live without distraction than somewhere not American. Perhaps we should give him the benefit of the doubt.

Because there are absolutely no carnal distractions in Holy Muscovy, none whatsoever.

Without money and the language barrier, very few. But you are very well aware of what I was saying.

Oh, come on....

You disagree? I remember being a young man traveling the world looking for those things and without the money and language, it wasn't easy. Practically impossible, which now I know was a blessing.

This guy, if he exists, is not exactly a 20 year old back packer on his way to find himself and see the world. He sounds embittered about a number of things, including what he called the inability of the American government to help him when his computer was stolen while in Ukraine and being bitter about having lost a job at a bank when the current economic meltdown began some years ago.

Look, if anyone has an idealized mindset that life for them will be better if they can just get to the 'promised land' (whatever that may be to the individual) - well then, go for it. But, as Frank Baum wrote a century ago in his famous children's book, The Wizard of Oz, things in the Emerald City are not always what they appear to be and the man behind the curtain is sometimes just a man - not an all-powerful wizard. Or as Dorothy concluded, there's no place like home for most of us to find our 'way.'

I could understand the anti-American aspect but that of all countries he chose Russia.

My thoughts exactly.

Maybe it's the result of so many people dying for their faith at the hands of tyranny and he considers it sacred ground. Maybe he's just a nut. I don't know, but I'm trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, which isn't always easy for me and you guys keep messing it up.

I wish him the best! It takes courage to leave everything behind and follow Jesus, as we are commanded. I suspect this fellow really seeks God and chose a place known for its sacrifices and Saints and also for seclusion. What better place to live without distraction than somewhere not American. Perhaps we should give him the benefit of the doubt.

His action is surely a strange application of "take your cross and follow me."

I wish him the best! It takes courage to leave everything behind and follow Jesus, as we are commanded. I suspect this fellow really seeks God and chose a place known for its sacrifices and Saints and also for seclusion. What better place to live without distraction than somewhere not American. Perhaps we should give him the benefit of the doubt.

His action is surely a strange application of "take your cross and follow me."

I wish him the best! It takes courage to leave everything behind and follow Jesus, as we are commanded. I suspect this fellow really seeks God and chose a place known for its sacrifices and Saints and also for seclusion. What better place to live without distraction than somewhere not American. Perhaps we should give him the benefit of the doubt.

His action is surely a strange application of "take your cross and follow me."

" Summing up George confessed that he sees Russia as a country having an emerging middle class, an army that is modernizing tremendously, and a Christian culture. "I think it is a great place to start a family, as well as a great investment opportunity," "

Yeah, I missed the part following what Carl quoted where Jesus also says when you follow Him to seek out a land with a modern army and great investment opportunities.....

You dont need any money or knowledge of the Russian language to get a carnal distraction in Russia. You just need to walk on a street and see the females. The majority of them look like supermodels, according to Western standards, and wear miniskirts even when it snows.

I wish him the best! It takes courage to leave everything behind and follow Jesus, as we are commanded. I suspect this fellow really seeks God and chose a place known for its sacrifices and Saints and also for seclusion. What better place to live without distraction than somewhere not American. Perhaps we should give him the benefit of the doubt.

His action is surely a strange application of "take your cross and follow me."

" Summing up George confessed that he sees Russia as a country having an emerging middle class, an army that is modernizing tremendously, and a Christian culture. "I think it is a great place to start a family, as well as a great investment opportunity," "

Yeah, I missed the part following what Carl quoted where Jesus also says when you follow Him to seek out a land with a modern army and great investment opportunities.....

I think the guy has an entitlement complex a mile wide. He needs to become gay or find someway to weasel in to one of the other protected classes in America if he wants to feed his entitlement fantasies. I don't think he will find it in Russia.

Now, I have heard of other people who have moved to Russia for other reasons, but it's generally because there are more opportunities to be had over there for someone who is willing to take risk. I think that many of the points he brought up - modernizing army and growing middle class - are true and show that while it may take some time Russia will be a growing, modern nation someday. Supposing they can get their birthrate under control. Many of the expats I have read say that business is usually their reason for going to Russia and Russian women vis-a-vis American women is their reason for staying. If Russia were to find some way to make it easier for American Orthodox men to move over there it could help with the population decline in more ways than one.

33-years-old American George Green, a former programmer has given up his career in the USA for being able to live in Russia and to practice Orthodoxy.

In interview to Interfax-Religion he told how being an adult chose his religion and subsequent reversals of his fortune...

I wonder how much time will it take for him to burn out.

Is this the same guy? A journalist?

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George Green

George Edward Green III has been a journalist since 1997, and written for several Technology, Financial, and Libertarian Publications. He lives near a large monastery in West Ukraine not far from Lvov. He authors at site: http://www.thirdrome.com/ and has many articles that are of interest. His Twitter is https://twitter.com/#!/kharaku

The first memory I have visiting the beautiful monastery town, in which I live, is not our monastery. It is the group of teenagers with a two liter bottle of cheap beer being passed between them, and the puffs of smoke emanating from the group. Old men drinking beer, and sometimes vodka, on park benches. The most depressing for me was in a cafe seeing a father with 250 grams of vodka telling his child he couldn't afford to buy him ice cream; meanwhile his son watched dad poor poison down his throat. Certainly stories like this are not unique to the former soviet union, but how are the territories which formed the Russian Empire to return to greatness under these circumstances? What do I suggest to resolve this?

...you can imagine so-called healing services of the pigpen. The books that could be written, you know: Life in the Pigpen. How to Cope in the Pigpen. Being Happy in the Pigpen. Surviving in the Pigpen. And then there could be counselling, for people who feel unhappy in the pigpen, to try to get them to come to terms with the pigpen, and to accept the pigpen.